Cultural Differences in Garnering Social Capital on Facebook

French People Prefer Close Ties and Americans Prefer Distant Ties

Bibliographic Data

ID21190332
AuthorsGenavee Brown (0000-0002-3169-9067, Université Rennes 2, corresponding author), Nicolas Michinov (0000-0002-6065-8061, Université Rennes 2)
Year2017
Volume46
Issue6
Pages579-593
Publication date2017-11-02
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Intercultural Communication Research (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1747-5759 • E-ISSN: 1747-5767
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/17475759.2017.1387166
OpenAlexW2762325166
LanguageEN
Citations received3
References cited30

The link between social capital (SC) and Facebook has been widely studied in the U.S., and less is known about how students from different cultures use the site to garner SC. We measured network composition, communication on Facebook, and SC via questionnaires in France and the U.S. We found that American students have a greater proportion of distant to close ties in their networks and higher levels of bridging SC than French, the latter preferring bonding SC. A stronger relationship between SC and communication via Facebook was observed in the U.S. These findings are explained by cultural differences in relatedness

Advertising · Business · Interpersonal ties · Political science · Social capital · Social media · Social science · Sociology · Strong ties · Impact of Technology on Adolescents · Psychology · Social Capital and Networks · Social Media and Politics · Social Psychology